Splitting a Soul~Chapter 1
My morning had started out about the same as it had every morning for the past several months. I laid in my bed and looked over at the alarm clock, with the light red glow of the numbers read 5:59 AM. I held my finger over the off button and waited for the buzzard to sound. I wasn’t sure when it was that I started waking up before the alarm sounded, but nowadays it seemed almost natural. It even got to the point that even on my days off, I found myself unable to fall back asleep once I was up. It was all thanks to Joe and El, my trainers who had been working me like a dog for the past several months. While I admit that I was the one that asked them for training in the first place, training mostly consisted of me dodging lightning bolts or being washed away by a tidal wave. I heard the alarm clock start to buzz, but I instantly turned it off before it even got half way into its first note. “Time to get up,” I told myself as I pushed my blankets aside and swung my legs over the side of the bed. As soon as my feet hit the cold wooden floor, I felt a shiver run up my spine. It was mid-November now and most mornings were like this. I clapped my hands once and the torches along the walls began to ignite one by one, filling the room with bright blue light that my eyes tried their best to adjust to. I went over to my dresser and pulled out some clothes, including an extra pair of socks to keep my feet warm. I slipped on my Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and slipped on the camps official hoodie on over it. I then slipped on a pair of jeans and headed out. The sun still wasn’t out unfortunately and as I let out a small yawn, I could see my breath in the faint light generated by the outside lightning of the camp. Very few people were up this early, with the exception Nyx’s children who were getting ready for bed. Being the goddess of the night, her children tended to stay up all night and sleep during the day. It sometimes caused problems for the cabins next to them, as the Nyx cabin would sometimes have parties that went on all night and the other cabins would complain. Even Dionysus threatened to turn them all into dolphins once when he was recovering from a party on Olympus, one of the few times he was allowed to drink actual wine. The Eos cabin was also just starting to wake up, being children of the goddess of the dawn. “Up again early I see,” came a voice from behind me, accompanied with a slap on the back. “Don’t you ever sleep?” I asked the lake nymph, Angel. “Nymphs don’t sleep unless we want to,” she said, circling around me. She looked about the same as always. She still had the same greenish tint to her skin, but in the winter it seemed that a layer of frost was forming on her greenish hair, which I wondered if it was naturally like that. “So what’s up?” “Not much, just going to get something to eat before practice,” I told her, heading over to the mess hall and we chatted as she followed me. Over the past few months, Angel had spent less time simply hanging around the shores of her lake and instead spent more time at camp. She mostly just would watch fights in the arena or hang back to check out games of Capture the Flag, which were like movies to her as she would watch them with a bag of popcorn in hand. Where she got the popcorn I still have no idea as it wasn’t allowed in camp. Occasionally she would also check out my training sessions, cheering from the stands or giving me advise that sounded good, but advice that El and Joe could also hear, meaning they would always change tactics. We eventually made it to the mess hall and grabbed a few plates and some glasses from a stack prepared for the morning breakfast, which wasn’t for another hour or so. Angel followed me to my table and we grabbed some seats across from each other. “French toast and bacon please,” I told the plate and the food magically appeared. I then turned to my cup. “Some hot chocolate as well please.” “Just some Caribbean seaweed and arctic circle water for me please,” Angel asked and the food magically appeared on her plate and cup. I always wondered what the extent of the magic was on the mess hall’s plates, but I never really questioned it. Angel began to dig into her food like it was the most delicious thing in the world, but to me it looked like wet lettuce and water. I began digging into my own breakfast, covering the French toast in syrup and sometimes slipping a piece of bacon past my lips. “So, today the day you’re finally going to win against those two?” Angel asked, pointing her fork at me before bringing it to her mouth and taking another bit of seaweed. “First off, it is two against one. I don’t think I’d be able to beat them even if I lived to be a hundred,” I told her, but she just waved her hand dismissively. “But think about this, if you lived to be a hundred, El and Joe would most likely be dead, making you the winner,” she said with a smile. The joke was obviously in bad taste, but it lifted my spirits somewhat. “I’m sure that they would find a way to kick my butt from the Underworld,” I joked back at her. The rest of breakfast continued on like that for a little while until the time came where I had to go. We walked over to the fire and I dumped in the crust from my French toast and a slice of bacon. “''Dad, Pisteuo, I know I’m going to need some help today'',” I thought as I watched the smoke head up into the sky. The smell seemed to fill the air and it almost made me hungry all over again. Angel did the same, dropping some left over seaweed into the fire and praying to whichever god she normally prayed to, maybe Poseidon but I didn’t know and she never really told anyone. “Ok, off to the arena to watch you kick major butt,” Angel said and I wondered where she got her confidence from because I could definitely use just a spoonful of it right now. “Sure, let’s go with that,” I told her and we began walking toward the arena. By now the sun was just peaking up over the horizon, just enough to light up the camp, but not enough to supply any real warmth. Even with the magical borders that surrounded the camp, a cold wind still blew past me. It reminded me that even with all the protection the camp had, with magical borders and Argus with his many eyes constantly watching, things still managed to get in. Chiron had been replaced by a shape-shifting venti last summer for who knows how long. The Elementals, representations of the four basic four elements as well as weaker combinations of the Elementals, seemed to be able to pass as they pleased and sometimes find ways to sneak their minions into the camp. It was actually why I was training so hard, as it was my responsibility to try and bring balance before their fight somehow rips the world apart. So far I had collected two of the four orbs needed to somehow bring peace to the Elementals and I had hoped that because of that, at least two of the Elementals would calm down…no such luck. With Fire still held captive by the Collector, a guy that saw the Elementals as trading cards, the other three were fighting for territory while some of the minor Elementals were fighting for territory of their own. It was chaos and I had very little influence over them, even with the Earth and Water sphere. Every so often I would hear news reports of freak tornadoes, tidal waves, and earthquakes all over the country. When I tried and contact the Water and Earth Elementals with my sword, they would both claim that it wasn’t them or they were just defending themselves. However, I never pushed the issue as they were letting me control their elements freely to a limited degree. “Alright, good luck in there,” Angel said as she patted me on the back. She then half jogged over to the staircase to site in her usual seat up top. Sometimes she would pretend to be a Roman emperor and give a thumbs up or thumbs down to signal if I should be killed or not. “And try not to die out there.” “Thanks for the help,” I said a little unenthusiastically, but Angel didn’t seem to pick up on that and raced up the stairs. I started walking into the arena, passing the huge stone archway. As I entered the arena, it looked the same as it always did in the mornings. A wrack of weapons were sitting out against the far wall. There were also obstacles spread out all over the place, including wooden barriers and large rocks to hide behind. And as always, Joe and El were patiently waiting on the other side of the arena. “Hi Ash!” El yelled from the other side of the arena, waving to me with a happy smile on her face. She was always the hyper one when comparing her to Joe, who had a much more serious look on his face and was holding a spear in his hand. “About time,” Joe commented and he held his spear up toward the sky. Storm clouds began to form overhead and flashes of lighting seemed to streak across the sky. “Wait, aren’t we going to have a warm-up first?!” I called, desperately reaching into my pocket for my sword. “Nope,” he said with a sly smirk and a bolt of lightning came flying down from the sky. I manage to wrap my hands around the sword in my pocket, which I had named Alter because of its ever changing properties. I did not however have time to pull it from my pocket before I had to jump to the side as a crater formed where the lightning hit. “Hey that was dangerous, go a little easy on me,” I shouted, pulling my sword from my pocket and shifting it into its true form. I then jumped to my feet, getting ready for another round. “Sorry Ash, but monsters, Elementals, or even a god won't wait around for you to get into position and ready for a fight,” El commented as she swung her sword forward and a wave of water seemed to rise up from behind her. “And neither do we. Haven’t you learned that by now?” She pointed her sword forward and the wave lunged forward, moving around El but reforming as it passed her. The wave was much too big for me to dodge and there was nothing for me to hide behind. I held Alter forward and channeled the power of the water Elemental into it, causing the sword to glow with faint blue light. “Here goes nothing,” I said and I slashed at the huge wave, causing the entire thing to split into two and dissolve into the ground. “Good job!” Angel yelled from her spot in the stands. “Thanks,” I called back, giving her a quick wave. “Don’t get distracted!” Joe yelled and as I turned my head, I was hit hard with a burst of wind that sent me flying backward into the stone wall of the Arena. Hitting the wall felt like being hit by a truck and I was slightly embedded into the wall, falling forward and hitting the ground hard. I tried to get back to my feet, but it was hard as I sucked in air into my lungs. I managed to get to my feet only to see El and Joe coming at me with their weapons ready. “Oh come on,” I said out loud and braced myself. Joe came at me first and I managed to deflect his strike before rolling forward and hitting El’s spear away. It was a move that only bought some time, as Joe circled around and came at me once again. Joe and El both came at me with a flurry of attacks, which I barely managed to hold off as I swung at them. Joe would go in for a stab and I would knock it away while El would go in with her spear, and I would be forced to retreat. They actually were a pretty good combination of offense and defense, which wasn’t good for me. As I was pushed back once again by El, I found myself pushed back against a large rock in the middle of the Arena. Joe came at me again and I jumped above his strike, landing on top of the large boulder. El then rushed forward and stabbed her spear right into the rock. I wasn’t sure what she was trying to accomplish until the cracks began to spider off from the spot of El’s impact and the entire thing crumbled under my feet. As I fell, I watched El and Joe prepare for an attack, which I couldn’t let them do. I channeled the power of the Earth Elemental and my sword gave off a faint green glow. I hit two pieces of rubble with the flat of my blade, but the rocks went flying like rockets at the two. This time they were forced to retreat as I sent a barrage of rubble at the two. They were dodging the rocks unfortunately and Joe even managed to deflect one with his sword. Also, I eventually ran out of rocks to chuck at them and I was left pretty much defenseless. Joe and El caught onto this as well and each of them launched an attack at me. A bolt of lightning seemed to fly from Joe’s sword as El launched a stream of water at me. I drove my sword into the ground and a wall of earth rose up to defend me. It didn’t hold however and when the attacks collided, the wall crumbled and I was once again shot backward into a large stone pillar. “Alright, time to finish this,” Joe said as him and El charged forward and I couldn’t really move from my spot as I held my sword which was lying on the ground. I watched as Joe and El were now only a few steps away and all of a sudden they stopped dad in their tracks, exactly as I had planned. “What the hell is this?” El exclaimed as her and Joe were now ankles deep in a small pool of mud that instantly hardened. “I think I finally managed to get the upper hand on you guys,” I said with a weak smile as I rose to my feet. It took a lot of concentration, but I managed to use two elements at the same time, even if it was only for a moment. Joe and El were now stuck in the ground and all I had to do was push them over to finally beat them. Each step I took felt like running a lap around the track as I was tired from the fight. When I was only a few steps away, El and Joe’s eyes both went wide with shock. “Ash, look out!” El yelled and I turned around to see the large stone pillar starting to fall toward me. I guess that hit from earlier had cracked it or maybe the mud had somehow destroyed the foundation, but either way it was about to fall on me. I reflexively raised my hands waiting for the large stone to collide with my small body. However, I felt an intense heat boil inside of me and I heard a large explosion before my mind seemed to go completely blank. “Holy sea snake, is everyone ok?” Angel asked, jumping down from the stands and running toward us. El called on some water to turn the dirt back into mud and she escaped while Joe stabbed his sword into the ground, breaking up the soil and allowing him to release his feet. I finally managed to look up and saw the stone pillar was in two separate pieces, with each end looking somewhat melted. I then looked at my hands and saw that they were burning with Greek fire. I shook my hands frantically and the flames went out. “How long have you been able to do that?” El asked, motion toward my hands. “I’m not sure,” I told her, which was a lie. In truth I had been able to almost call on it willingly ever since the Sirens had seemed to unlock that part of me when I ventured into the Sea of Monsters. However, it wasn’t something I liked to do as it just reminded me that there was something inside of me trying to claw its way out. “''I can’t have you dying just yet'',” I heard echo in my head, but I ignored the voice and just looked up at Joe and El. Joe on the other hand knew what could happen if I lost control as he had experienced it firsthand. While he was much younger at the time, he mentioned to me in private that he wasn’t sure the limits of that form, meaning it even worried him. “That should be enough for today. We’re calling this session short,” Joe said before putting his sword onto his belt and heading for the exit of the arena. Before he left, he turned back around and looked at me. “Oh and Ash, try and enjoy your vacation.” “That was a good match Ash,” El said, giving me a nice pat on the back that almost caused me to fall over. Sometimes I wondered if she and Angel were sisters, or maybe it was just a water being thing that they all shared. “You almost had us there at the end.” “I would have had you both if that pillar hadn’t fallen,” I told her with a somewhat cocky smile. “But things like that happen. Events take place that no one will expect that could make or break a battle. You might have been able to beat us, but you didn’t,” she said with a smile. “So you admit there was a chance?” I asked her, one of my eyebrows going up in a questioning motion. “Small,” El said, lifting up her hand and holding her thumb and pointer finger about a quarter inch apart. She then looked at it and made the gap even smaller. “Microscopic even, but there is always a chance. Don’t let your skills get rusty over the Thanksgiving break either, because when you come back we aren’t going to go easy on you.” After that, El left the arena as well. I shifted my sword back into the shape of a pocket knife and slipped it into my pocket. Angel walked up to me and looked over some of my injuries from the practice fight, commenting on how El and Joe had done a number on me and she healed me up with some water magic. “So when are you leaving for home?” Angel asked while fixing a cut on my left arm. “Train leaves later this afternoon. Argus is giving me and a few other campers a lift to the train station,” I told her and she gave me a sly smile. “I hear you’re bringing someone else home with you, a girl maybe?” Angel joked and a small blush appeared on my face, but I played it off as adrenaline from the fight. “If you must know I’m bringing Kimi back with me. She doesn’t really have a family of her own and I have plenty of relatives to spare so I thought it would be nice,” I told her, once again hiding the blush. >“All done,” Angel said, getting to her feet and giving me a smile. “I didn’t need all the details, but be nice to her, ok?” >She didn’t wait for an answer before heading back to the lake and leaving me by myself. I got up and headed for my cabin to pack. I was looking forward to a long week of rest and relaxation at home. Chapters Previous: The Beast of the Sea Next: Chapter 2~Heading Out Category:Darkcloud1111 Category:Splitting a Soul Category:Rise of the Great Guardian Category:Chapter Page